17/07/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | JULY 17, 2025

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Schauffele’s X factor Defending champion starting with blank canvas but will count of experience at Royal Portrush X ANDER SCHAUFFELE is super-excited at the prospect of trying to defend his British Open title at Royal Portrush this week but says he will have to come up with a different plan to the one that took him to victory 12 months ago.

British Open: Five contenders to watch THE British Open returns to Royal Portrush this week as the world’s top golfers descend on Northern Ireland, all with eyes on the Claret Jug. Here’s a look at five of the main contenders to win the 153rd edition of golf’s oldest major: Scottie Scheffler (USA) staggering nine titles last season. Scheffler has not finished outside the top 10 at any event since the Players Championship in March. He lifted his third major title with victory at the PGA Championship and has won two other PGA Tour events this year. His record at the British Open is weaker than at the other majors, but he showed signs of getting to grips with links golf last year at Troon, before a disappointing finish saw him end eight shots behind champion Xander Schauffele. Hometown hero McIlroy is expected to make a strong challenge for his second British Open title after ending his 11-year wait for a fifth major title by completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters in April. McIlroy missed the cut the last time the tournament was held at Portrush in 2019 and will be desperate to make amends. He arrives in strong form following a second-place finish at last week’s Scottish Open. Xander Schauffele (USA) World ranking: 3 British Open best: Winner (2024) Schauffele backed up his maiden major victory at last year’s PGA Championship with a two-shot win at Royal Troon, but has struggled to find his best so far this season. But he managed just his second top-10 of 2025 in Scotland and will still be expecting to mount a strong title defence. Schauffele pulled away from a host of challengers 12 months ago with a brilliant, bogey-free final round of 65 to take the spoils. Bryson DeChambeau (USA) World ranking: 15 British Open best: Tied-eighth (2022) The big-hitting American has struggled previously at the British Open, missing the cut for the third time last year, but has otherwise been one of the most consistent players at the biggest events. He has finished in the top six in five of the last seven majors, winning his second US Open title in 2024. DeChambeau will be hoping to take advantage of any rain-softened conditions and boost his hopes of qualifying automatically for the US Ryder Cup team despite not gaining any points for LIV Golf events. Jon Rahm (ESP) World ranking: 72 British Open best: Tied-second (2023) Rahm has come close on several occasions to becoming the first Spanish winner since Seve Ballesteros won the last of his three titles in 1988. The 30-year-old, a former Masters and US Open champion, is in excellent form. He has two major top-10 finishes this season and his worst result in 10 LIV Golf events this year was a tie for 11th place in Dallas. – AFP Rory McIlroy (NIR) World ranking: 2 British Open best: Winner (2014) World ranking: 1 British Open best: Tied seventh (2024) The world No. 1 is the pre-tournament favourite after rediscovering the form that brought him a

Royal Troon,” he said. “Coming here, I feel like I’m trying to re-learn this golf course, get comfortable with certain sight lines, some blind tee shots. “If I can get myself in the mix, that’s when I think I would have an advantage. That’s where my biggest edge would be. “I can lean on experience at other points in time, but I think the most fun and the biggest advantage I would have is coming down the stretch if I can get close to that lead.” With the perils of a links course’s sloping greens, cavernous bunkers, knee-deep rough and the wild weather associated with Britain’s coast, it is hardly surprising that defending the title is treacherous. The last player to do so was Ireland’s Padraig Harrington in 2008 and Schauffele knows the luck of the draw and getting lucky with the weather could be vital this week. “This week is a pretty good example of having to deal with a wave. There’s typically a good wave and a bad wave in an Open Championship,” he said. “You just keep your fingers crossed that you’re in the good wave and try and play well. “If you’re not, fight for your life and make the cut and then try and do something on the weekend.” For a player who grew up in San Diego, it might be surprising how he has embraced the challenge of links golf. But he said 16-hour trips in the car with his dad as a youngster helped him learn to be creative. “We drove up to Bandon Dunes from San Diego. It took about 16 hours. I was 13 years old,” he said. “We played three or four days in a row. “We got the real weather. My rain gear stopped working. It was that much wind and rain. “I had a blast. As much as it was nice to look forward to a hot shower at the end of the day, I had so much fun for some reason trying to figure out how to play golf in that weather.” With wind and rain expected to batter Portrush at times over the next five days, he will draw on those experiences again. – Reuters tournament so badly? Why do I want to win The Open Championship so badly?’ “I don’t know because if I win it’s going to be awesome for two minutes, then we’re going to get to the next week and it’s, ‘Hey, you won two majors this year; how important is it for you to win the FedEx Cup playoffs?’ “It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling.” Scheffler has won three times this year, has one runner-up finish and eight other top-10s in 15 events. He has not finished outside the top 25 this season, not missed a cut since the FedEx St Jude Classic in August 2022 and has PGA Tour career earnings of nearly US$88 million (RM378m), but admits if golf ever started impacting his family he would immediately quit. “I’m blessed to be able to come out here and play golf, but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that’s going to be the last day that I play out here for a living,” he added. “This is not the be-all and end-all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That’s why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me? “Because I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that’s what’s more important to me.” – The Independent

“I think a blank canvas is a great place to start. You can paint many different pictures to win a tournament. You’ve just got to do the right one,” the American told reporters on the County Antrim coast yetserday after practice. The 31-year-old

produced a blemish-free final-round of 65 at Royal

Troon last year to win his second major title to go along with his gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics. He was the third American in four years to win golf’s oldest major but while that experience will hold him in good stead for the days ahead, he said Portrush’s Dunluce Links

will throw up a completely new test of his renowned links golf skills. “It’s an interesting thing just

because my thoughts of p l a y i n g really well were at

Xander Schauffele. – AFPPIC

Scottie questions why he chases majors Ű BY CARL MARKHAM

so bad? That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis. “Showing up at the

LONG-TIME world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is chasing his second major of the year and fourth of his career at Royal Portrush but admits every day he questions why. The most successful and consistent golfer of the last four years appeared to be having some kind of existential crisis as he spoke to the media at Royal Portrush yesterday ahead of the 153rd Open Championship – for which he is favourite. Scheffler said winning golf

Masters every year it’s like, ‘Why do I want to win this golf

tournaments, which he has done 21 times at various levels – including an Olympic gold medal last year – did not satisfy him. “This is not a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart,” the 29-year-old American said. “There’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfil them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they’re like, ‘What’s the point?’ “I really do believe that because, what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament

Scottie Scheffler. – AFPPIC

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